Improvement in machinery for drying hemp or flax



G. F. SCHAFFER.

Hackling Machine.

Patented Oct. 29. 1861.

Witnesses: Inventor:

N PETERS. Phutoidhugmpher, Washivlgfnn, D. C.

I UNITED STATES PATENT et.

7 G. F. SO'HAIFFER, on NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF, AUGUST SCHMIDT, AND JAS. r. srnnn, or SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN MACHINERY FOR DRYING-HEMP OR FLAX.

' Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 33.625, dated October 29, 1861.

clear, and exact description of my said invention, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making part of this specification, wherein- Figurel isa vertical longitudinal section of my machine, and Fig. 2 is a plan with a portion of theupper parts of the machine removed.

' Similar marks of reference denote the same parts.

The nature of my said invention consists in the employment of a cylinder carrying rollers, with a belt also carrying rollers,in such a manner that the flax or other material to be cleaned of the tow and woody material is so acted upon by the rollers that the said refuse matter is loosened from the fiber, and the fibers themselves separated and cleansed; and to comb out and remove such tow and foreign matter I employ hatchels in combination with said rollers upon the cylinder and upon the belt.

In the ordinary mode of hatcheling hemp and flax, either by handor by machinery,the fibers are left loosely during portions of the operation, so that they become entangled and are broken in combing out the tow and hands. In my invention the fibrous mass is held firmly and occupies one position while being operated upon, so that tangling is entirely prevented and much loss of fiber avoided.

In the drawings,a a is a suitable frame, carrying the shaft b, that is rotated by suitable power. 0 is a cylinder upon the said shaft 1), the curved surface of which is provided with rollers d d at suitable distances apart, and\ set to the rollers ff and to the shaft b. '5 'i are hatchels, also attached near their ends to the belts g. The positions of these, rollers and hatchels are such on the belts g and cylinder 0 that the rollers d of the cylinder 0, acting against the rollers of the belt, cause the said belt to progress at the same speed as the cylinder, andthe hatchels stand in the positions represented between the rollers. It will now be seen that the flax or hemp, being slightly crushed as it passes into the machine through a pair of feed-rollers, 70 Z, is combed by the hatchels e e andz' i acting on opposite sides of the mass, and the rollers at. the same time compress, crack, rub, and work off the tow i and woody particles to be combed out by the 'neXt set of hatchels, and the mass is all, the time retained in the proper position for being acted upon. without any liability of the fibers to'become entangled. I make the lower feedroller, Z, of india rubber or other suitable elastic material,as a covering for the metallic shaft or roller, and I make the upper roller, 70, with grooves running lengthwise, so as to crack the woody part of the hemp or flax. At the same time the rubber, beingigyielding, causes the rollers to hold the mass morefirmly to prevent the hatchels drawing the same into the machine, and to aid this the roller 1 should be provided with spring-bearings, as shown at 3. I provide a pulley, m, with a band to the pulley, on which is a pinion, 0, to the wheel 10 on the shaft of the roller 70, and said wheel causes the roller is to revolve when coupled to the shaft by the key 4, acted on by the lever q, in order to feed the material into the machine; or when said key is pressed in so as to couple with the wheel 1-, that receives motion from the wheels sand t,the feed-rollers are turned in theopposite direction to draw the material out; orrwhen the said key 4 stands between the two wheels the rollers are stationary to allow time for the machine thoroughly to clean the fibers. It will be seen that the rollers d d, as they come around suc-l cessively, strike and break'off the woody material in short lengths as it projects from the feed-rollers, and the rollers d, turning freely, do not scrape or injure the fiber in the least,the tow and foreign matter being combed out by the hatchels.

I as and for the purposes set forth;

3. The feed-rollers 7t and Z, one of which is grooved and the other rendered elastic by a covering of rubber or similar materiaLin combination With the said cylinder 0 and belt 9, provided with the rollers and hatchels, as set forth.

' In witness whereof I have hereunto set my signature this 25th day of September, 1861.

G; FREDRIGK SGHAFFER.

Witnesses:

LEMUEL' W. SERRELL, THOS. GEO. HAROLD. 

